Why Zoella is my role model and I’m not sorry about it

I know what you’re all thinking… “a blogger who loves Zoella, how original!” In the midst of the advent calendar drama and hiring her own creative team, many people have gone off Zoe, so to speak. But not me, I have been reading Zoe’s blog and watching her Youtube videos since I was a stroppy teenager. I’ve grown up with her and although you only see a tiny fraction of her life through the camera lens, I almost feel like she’s now a friend. Since 2009, Zoe Sugg has become undeniably successful and apologies to anyone who “hates” her but how could you not even slightly envy her life? She has a beautiful house, a loving boyfriend, a great set of friends and the most perfect career. When I see people hating on her, I struggle to believe it’s for any reason other than a bit of jealousy.

Controversial? Maybe.

I believe people love Zoe for different reasons. Some people I’ve asked love her fashion sense, some love her make up looks, some love her vlogs but not her main channel videos and some people are like me and just genuinely love everything about her!

It’s International Women’s Day today so I thought I’d dedicate a post to the woman who has inspired me for years. I totally understand and respect it when people say to me that there are so many other young bloggers who are inspiring but aren’t as rich and famous. While I love watching smaller Youtubers and enjoy reading smaller blogs, I’ve followed Zoe for SO long now and I wanted to share the reasons why she is my role model.

Mental Health

Firstly, I have always admired how open she is about her anxiety. When I first started struggling with anxiety, I honestly had no idea what it was. I thought there was something terribly wrong with me and every time I had a panic attack, I felt like I was about to die. I felt stupid for feeling out of place at social gatherings, I felt like a bitch when sometimes holding a “normal” conversation with my friends was too much and I just simply did not understand.

Before I went to speak to the wellbeing team at university and then to my GP, I remembered Zoe’s “Dealing with Panic Attacks & Anxiety video” that she uploaded in 2012. When I watched it for the first time, it broke my heart and I felt awful that Zoe had to experience that but I didn’t even realise that I was experiencing very similar things in 2014! So I rewatched her video and seriously related to her and understood everything she was saying.

I know how hard it is to feel anxious. You feel like you can’t talk about it because people won’t understand or they’ll say it’s just an excuse. So many things whizz around your head and that’s all part of it. Zoe talks about her mental health whenever she can and she also became an ambassador for Mind. So in a sense, she has helped me to feel like I can talk about my anxiety. If she can speak openly about it all over the internet, I can reach out to my friends and I can certainly write about it on my blog.

Fashion

Back in college, I used to look forward to Zoe’s Primark hauls. When they popped up in my sub box, I used to squeal with excitement. I’ve always loved the clothes she wears and how her dress sense has never been too “mainstream.” She has a very unique, quirky style and she makes me want to step out of my comfort zone when it comes to the clothes I wear.

I love wearing bright colours and different patterns because I like to express myself through my clothes. I recently purchased some red patent leather boots which I am in LOVE with. I would have looked at those a few years ago and thought “ew no” but when Zoe uploads a new outfit of the day on Instagram or she shows us what she’s wearing in the mirror on her vlogs, it makes me so jealous! I’ve stopped caring what people think of my outfits and now I wear whatever the hell I want. As long as I feel good, that’s all that matters.

Authenticity

In my opinion, Zoe hasn’t changed since 2009. I mean, yes, she’s grown up, she’s matured, she’s changed her style and she has a lot of new friends but she still comes across as the same bubbly and positive person as she did in her first ever “what’s in my room” video! She came from humble beginnings and through all the success and publicity, I think she’s remained authentic and relatable.

I can understand why people would disagree with how relatable she is now since she’s created her very own products, released a series of books and lives in the most incredible house but I’m talking about how she comes across in her videos. I feel like it must take A LOT to deal with becoming so successful and there is a lot of pressure that comes with it but she still posts regularly and I honestly don’t feel like she’s let the fame get to her head whereas many other Youtubers who started out at a similar time to her just aren’t relatable anymore and I’ve stopped watching so many of them who I used to love just as much as Zoe.

Everyone is entitled to their opinions, of course. But these are the reasons why Zoe is my role model and has been for many years and most likely will be for years to come. She’s become a successful business woman by doing something she loves and despite the fact that I’m bias, I actually adore the majority of her products as well! She is beautiful, down to earth, original and authentic and I hope she continues to create wonderful content for her loyal subscribers!